RECORD STORE TALES #1101: In The Mix – An Uncle Paul Story
At the dawn of the new millenium, technology was on the move! I now had a CD burner on the family PC, and had just discovered this new thing called “Limewire“! I was just starting to download all sorts of rare music, from out-of-print songs to live performances. I had burned my first mix CD and was just starting to dip my toes into this new world, when Uncle Paul and Aunt Maria came over to visit one Sunday afternoon.
I was eager to show Uncle Paul what I could now do with a computer and an internet connection. Making a custom CD was such a revelation back then. It seems mundane now, but it truly was new and exciting in the year 2000. For Uncle Paul, the wheels in his head started turning.
“Can you make me a CD?” he asked. “With anything I want on it?”
“I can try!” I responded. “What songs do you want? Make a list…”
He only wanted two songs. I wish I could remember what they were. I know they were both car songs. That’s all I can remember. Two classic car songs from the golden age of rock and roll.
I searched for the two songs on Limewire, found decent copies, and began downloading.
“You still have about 70 minutes of blank space on this CD, what do you want to fill it up with?” I asked him. I hated wasting valuable blank CD real estate. Once you burned a CD, that was it. You couldn’t go back and add to it.
“Can you repeat each song, twice?” he asked.
“Sure can. But you’ll still have over an hour of blank space on the CD.”
“That’s OK,” he said. “I just want each song, twice. That’s all I need.”
“Really? I can repeat them as many times as you want until the CD is full. If you want me to,” I said, trying to convince him.
“Twice each is fine. Can you do that?” That’s all he wanted!
One the songs were downloaded, I started up the burning software. Track 1…song 1. Track 2…song 1 again! Track 3, song 2, and track 4, song 2. That was it. It burned in no time, and we tested it.
“Thank you Michael! This is exactly what I wanted.”
You’re welcome Uncle Paul. A simple request that provided all the entertainment he needed. A happy man, and a happy nephew to have done this one small thing for him, that he appreciated far more than it warranted. He was a good uncle.
Welcome to Homework From My Therapist! I have a new therapist; she’s nice, and fresh ideas are always helpful as I make the transition from Summer to Fall to Winter. She asked me about happy winter stories; I said I had several. She suggested I write them down somewhere I could easily find them, any time I needed a pick-me-up in the winter. Of course, for me, that means the easiest location is right here. I am putting on my Empire Strikes Back soundtrack as I type, and I am in the zone. Let’s do this!
Join me won’t you, for this walk through the winter snow of 1981?
RECORD STORE TALES #1100: Happy Winter Stories Vol. 1 – The Empire Strikes Back
Even as a child I never liked winter, always looking forward to the warmth and freedom of the summer sun. The winter of 1981, however, offered a new opportunity. The Empire Strikes Back was the latest thing. We were collecting all the toys, all the figures, everything we could. With winter here, we now had the opportunity to dress up as the characters for outside role play!
The snow was deep on our tiny frames that winter. You truly could imagine you were on the ice planet of Hoth, if not for all the trees. Winter trips to the cottage offered the more bleak landscape of a completely frozen lake as far as the eye could see, but we didn’t dress in our Star Wars outfits when we made those winter visits. That was a home activity for the winter weekends!
My sister dressed as Luke Skywalker. I let her use my glow-in-the-dark “laser sword” for that purpose. I wanted to be Han.
My dad had made us wooden guns and pistols by cutting shapes out of playwood offcuts and painting rough details. Perfect for a Solo blaster! I used my dad’s real leather holster, which even at its tightest was always so loose. Every good Canadian kid has a pair of snow pants; mine were blue or brown. I grabbed a pair of goggles from a snorkel set. To top it off came my pride and joy: a blue winter coat, with a big furry hood…just like Han Solo’s. I’d strap on my laser pistol on top of that and trudge out into snow for an hour or two.
Other kids from the neighbourhood would drop in and play other roles. Someone would have to roar like Chewbacca as I pretended to trade blasts with an Imperial probe droid.
When it was time to board the Millenium Falcon, we’d jump into my dad’s car in the garage. He didn’t like that part too much, as we fiddled with buttons in a vain attempt to get the Falcon into hyperspace.
When it came time to come in and get warm, we always had the original John Williams soundtrack to keep us entertained with our Kenner action figures. Even so, the importance of the role play can’t be left out of the story. It allowed the kids to go out, run around, burn off energy, and be social with other kids as we all re-enacted our favourite Star Wars movies. We couldn’t just go and pop a video tape into our VCRs. Few of us had a VCR yet.
The Empire Strikes Back was the newest of the Star Wars movies, and was completely new and exciting to all of us, boys and girls alike. We’d all seen it. It was a family thing. Anyone could jump in and play the role of Chewie, 3P0, Princess Leia, or Darth Vader. But I was Han Solo. That was a constant, as non-negotiable as a deal with Jabba the Hutt himself.
We did it all over again in 1982, and 1983. I think I may have commandeered my mom’s ski goggles at that point, refining my costume.
After Return of the Jedi came out in May of ’83, my focused changed to Luke Skywalker. Not only was he suddenly badass instead of this whiny disrespectful little shit, but he looked really cool in his new black outfit. Our role play changed to summer, and I donned a black glove while reclaiming the glow-in-the-dark laser sword as my own. My sister could be Han Solo this time, but that meant she had to pretend to be blind before I saved her!
Star Wars died down pretty quickly after 1983, and as kids we moved on to other interests as well. It must be remembered, the length of time we lived with Empire as “current” Star Wars movie. It came out in spring of 1980, so we were playing Empire and getting Empire toys for Christmas for 1980, ’81, and 1982! For me, that was age 8 to age 10, the most important span of years in a kid’s childhood! For my sister, it was ages 4 to 7, almost as important! That chunk of our lives coincided with a cool “sweet spot” of Star Wars. Not only did we get the best movie of the series, with some of the best toys and figures of the line, but also got three years of yearning anticipation and fear! Was Darth Vader really Luke’s father? How would they save Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt? What was Jabba the Hutt? We had to use our imaginations and we imagined every scenario we could in our games.
Those were good times in some cold, wet winters. Let’s not forget them, nor the warmth of a hot chocolate after we kicked the snow off our boots and hung our snow pants up to dry. That would have been a good winter Saturday in 1981.
#1099: “Can you play it a little louder?” – An Uncle Paul Story (aka “Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now”)
In the late 80s, I was starting to fill in my Van Halen collection thanks to the generosity of family, and the Columbia House Music Club. Diver Down turned out to be a favourite because of the cover songs: this was an album that parents and family would let me play in the car, because they knew the songs and they were not too too heavy!
Any time I found a Van Halen song that I thought the older generation would swing to, I would proclaim: “I found another one!”
“Why is the band called Van Halen when the singer is named David Lee Roth?” my mom asked.
“Because there are two Van Halens in the band and only one Lee Roth,” I answered simply.
“Van Halen? Sounds like some kind of tropical disease,” deadpanned my dad once upon a time.
But my family and especially my uncle liked enough of the songs:
“Pretty Woman”
“Dancing in the Streets”
“Happy Trails”
“Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)”
They really, really liked “Big Bad Bill”. Especially the sweet, smooth clarinet melodies of Jan Van Halen. The tone! So full. I don’t think they ever heard the clarinet played with the speed of Jan Van Halen before. Diver Down was my pathway to having my music played in the car stereo. Uncle really liked the upbeat sounds of these Van Halen covers. Everybody seemed to like Roth. I couldn’t get them into Hagar, even with ballads like “Give To Live”. Uncle wasn’t into ballads. (I should have tried “I Can’t Drive 55”.) He always wanted something with a good tempo. I have more stories about this, but today’s is about the mighty VH.
“Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)” was the one song everyone universally agreed on. It was so different from anything in the mainstream. It had a vintage country shuffle born from the 1920s, and of course that clarinet. David Lee Roth hammed up the vocals, at his Vaudeville best, and Uncle Paul ate it up. And then he said the magic words: “Can you play it a little louder?” The one phrase that no adult ever uttered: “Can you play it a little louder?” Uncle Paul was the only one.
What kid wouldn’t dive for the volume knob when an adult asked them to?
“If it’s too loud, you’re too old,” goes the saying. Uncle Paul was never too old.
We loved Uncle Paul. It was he that bridged the two generations. He was an adult, but he was welcome to hang with the kids. He was part of both groups. Not very families has a member who fills that role. We did — and I am so happy we had that. Our childhoods were so much richer for it.
Miss you Uncle Paul.
From Wikipedia:
“Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)” is a song with music by Milton Ager and lyrics by Jack Yellen, written in 1924. The song became a vocal hit for Margaret Young accompanied by Rube Bloom, and an instrumental hit for the Don Clark Orchestra.
The song has also been recorded by Ernest Hare (1924), Billy Murray (1924), Clementine Smith (1924), Emmett Miller (1929), Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra (1940), Peggy Lee (1962), Merle Haggard (1973), Ry Cooder (1978), Leon Redbone (1978), Van Halen (1982) and others[4] and has been a popular song in barbershop quartet and chorus competitions.
The lyrics describe a man “in the town of Louisville…” who was once a fearsome and rough character known for getting into fights, who, after getting married, becomes a peaceable person who devotes his time to domestic activities such as washing dishes and mopping the floor. He was “Stronger than Samson I declare, til the brown skinned woman, bobbed his hair.”
RECORD STORE TALES #1098: TodayI Feel Very Special – An Uncle Paul Story
Today we lay my Uncle Paul to rest. I learned something about him yesterday that I never really realized before.
Sunday was the visitation. These are always a storm of mixed feelings. You’re sad, you’re exhausted, and there are dozens of people to meet. It was wonderful to hear so many people say loving things about my dear uncle. He was clearly well liked by his friends and colleagues. There were a lot of happy memories shared, introductions made, and friends to catch up with.
I was happy to see two of my best friends in the world after long absences: the legendary Bob Schipper and the beloved Peter Cavan with his sister Joanne. I have not seen any of them since, well, the last funerals. We are all a little older now, and time has taken its toll, but the faces were the same. It is good to know that my uncle had such an impact on my friends that they would drive to Stratford to honour a man they were not related to. That’s just how my uncle was. I heard lots of the same words today, over and over: kind, thoughtful, attentive, caring, warm.
The thing that I did not expect to learn was a story repeated twice by two different co-workers of his. They both said that he spoke of my sister and I fondly, all the time. All the time, as if we were his own kids.
I knew that he considered us like his own, but I didn’t know how he spoke of us so often. He had pictures of us in his office along with other family photos. He must have said some pretty amazing things because the two co-workers we met specially wanted to tell us this about him. I really did not know.
He always took interest in what we were doing and wanted to know what games we were playing and what music we were listening to. He liked fast songs about cars. I know I played “Slick Black Cadillac” by Quiet Riot for him when I was just a grade school kid. I hope he liked it.
Thank you Uncle Paul. We say goodbye today but the stories will live on forever.
RECORD STORE TALES #1097: Why We Always Liked Christmas Eve Best – An Uncle Paul Story
Christmas was always a big deal in our family. It was a multi-stage affair: many dinners and many gifts at several residences. In my earliest years, the Christmas festivities would begin in Guelph, Ontario.
The Ladano clan originated in Amalfi, and then Sicily. When they came to Canada in the early years of the 1900s, they settled in the largely Italian town of Guelph. This is where my grandfather lived, and we would make our way to his house in the snowy afternoon of December 24. We journeyed from Kitchener, and my Uncle Paul and Aunt Maria came from Stratford. The first round of gifts would be given. A lot of “dinky cars”, Hotwheels and Matchbox. Eventually we would fall asleep, and at the end of the night, we’d be loaded in the car for the drive home. We would probably have slept in the car too, if not for my dad’s shenanigans from the driver’s seat. He always had us on the lookout for “Rudolph”. We had to beat Santa home to the house! “Rudolph” was in fact a red light atop a radio tower, but look for him we did. Radio stations would egg us on with “Santa sightings” on their radar. We’d always make it home before Santa arrived.
After my grandfather died, Christmas Eve changed. My uncle and aunt would arrive mid-day at our house from Stratford. This is where my strongest memories begin.
My sister and I would already be on holidays and we could not — COULD NOT! — wait for Christmas Eve! Whatever old Atari games we had were boring compared to what we thought was coming. Killing time was the name of the game. We watched whatever Christmas specials were on, good and bad. It seemed like an eternity, and it felt like those days crawled by like months. Then, finally, December 24 would come, and Uncle Paul and Aunt Maria would too! And they always brought the best gifts. No clothes from them. Only fun. Candy, puzzles, games, books, and toys only! We had to be showered and dressed, because they’d be here any minute!
We’d stare out the front window at every car. Nope, not them. Nope, not them. Wait! That’s them!! Their car would slowly turn through the snow into the driveway. Then they’d get out and start unloading the gifts! “Look at the size of that one!” I’d cry. “I hope that’s for me!” My mom would interject. “It’s not for you, now go down and help!” And so we’d race down the stairs and hug them and carry the bags and bags of gifts upstairs. They also brought food and treats. My aunt’s home-made pizza would be lunch for the following day.
There was one year that was so snowy, we didn’t know if Christmas Eve would have to be cancelled or not. It seemed unimaginable! The snow that night was some of the deepest I had ever seen. Uncle and Aunt had never missed a Christmas Eve before! No blizzards ever stopped them. One year, they came by train, but they never missed.
Once Uncle and Aunt arrived, it felt like Christmas had really started. Then and only then. Before that moment, there was tension and anticipation. My mom had so much to do in the kitchen before they got there! “If you’re not going to help then stay out of the way!” she would scold. We’d run to join my dad in the living room, waiting patiently watching old black & white Christmas specials. But then Uncle and Aunt would pull into that driveway wearing their warm sweaters, and Christmas would really begin.
After we got our first Schnauzer, the doggie would go crazy when they appeared in our driveway. The dog would bark and bark and bark from the front window, and then race down the stairs to greet them first. Of course, this happy was greeting was conditional upon treats, which were ready in pocket. The dog would wind around our legs as we tried to carry gifts up the stairs.
Uncle and Aunt’s gifts were always opened on Christmas Eve, just like they were back in the old days in Guelph. And they got us the best gifts.
My uncle would always tell us, “be patient!” but we couldn’t wait to rip into their gifts. As the 80s wore on, the nature of the gifts evolved. At first they were Star Wars guys and Atari games. Soon after, GI Joes and Transformers. This gave way to music. Cassettes first, and then CD, with some VHS tapes mixed in for good measure. There were never socks. No button-up shirts, no mittens, no slacks. They never bought us clothes, and they were proud of it! Stratford has some interesting toy stores, so we often received unique 3D puzzles and brain twisters. Stratford also has the best candy stores, and we would often get special treats too. They were so generous to us.
After a few gifts were relieved of their wrapping paper, my dad and uncle would go for a drive — an annual tradition. They would go check out the new cars for sale at the local dearlerships and admire the vehicles, imagining which they would buy next. The rest of us thought this was the most boring Christmas tradition ever! For a few years in the mid-80s, my sister had a paper route. For those years, the tradition was that my dad, uncle and I would pile into a car and help her deliver the papers door to door. One year the snow was so deep, it felt like we were blazing new trails through the Antarctic glaciers.
Dinner was always a fun affair. My uncle had a few beers by then, and was even more playful than usual. My sister and I would fight over who got to sit next to him. (My mom came up with assigned seating at one point, probably because of us.) He was always curious about our gifts. If it was music, he wanted to have a listen to a song or two. If it was a toy, he wanted to watch us put it together, or see how it worked. We received so many cassettes from them during the tape era! I can’t remember the exact tape, but I remember one store sold a cassette to my aunt with the big clunky security case attached. Let me tell you people, it took two grown men, one teenager, and two pairs of scissors to get that rubbery plastic shell off my Judas Priest. (It wasn’t Judas Priest, but I like the way that sentence sounds.) There was also a store in Stratford that could get unusual special orders, and my aunt often secured rare musical gifts that I couldn’t find in town.
The early 80s were particularly frantic. The years of Star Wars and Atari. So many games! Haunted House was responsible for one pretty fun Christmas Eves. During the Atari era, my sister and I would disappear into the basement for long stretches of time playing all our new games. Then we’d wake him up early Christmas morning, because they slept on the fold-out bed right in front of the TV!
Uncle Paul didn’t know or care a thing about Star Wars or Star Trek. He was a car guy. He gave his own names to our toys. “Tauntaun” became Toto. The nine-armed FX-7 medical droid was the “coffee maker”. We loved this about him. It didn’t matter that he didn’t know an R2 unit from a protocol droid. He didn’t care that we didn’t know our cars. Sometimes, we would just quietly sit next to each other without saying a word while we let others do all the talking. Then he might nudge me in the side and laugh. Those were good Christmas Eves.
Christmas Eve hasn’t been the same since my uncle fell sick. We’re older too, and a Star Wars figure doesn’t elicit the same tear-the-box-open kind of excitement. Plus, who can afford Star Wars figures these days? And don’t get me started on GI Joe. I know there are a multitude of reasons why Christmas Eve isn’t what it once was, but I can’t help but feel that a huge part of that is Uncle Paul. Their arrival on December 24 was the official commencement of festivities. Without him, everything seemed so much more…adult.
Over the years, my sister and I would invite friends, boyfriends, and girlfriends to join us on Christmas Eve. No matter who was joining us that night, there was one universal constant: everyone loved Uncle Paul. He was kind, attentive and most of all, he was fun. He was always the most fun of everyone. Even if he was just sitting quietly next to my dad, every so often you’d hear his distinctive laugh and know they just shared an inside joke.
That’s just Christmas Eve. Our Christmas was a long affair, involving a special Christmas Day, and a visit to Stratford on the 27th every year. But those are tales for another day, and as I remember my Uncle Paul, one memory triggers a cascade more. Of these, the many Christmas Eve memories are the strongest. And that’s why we always loved Christmas Eve best of all.
RECORD STORE TALES #1095: Mental Health Plan: Gutterballs! (Jen Kicks Mike’s Butt at Bowling – with video)
Part of my mental health plan this winter is getting out more. Movies, dinners, that sort of thing. Jen loves bowling, so she took me out bowling for the first time in many years. Five pin bowling is her jam. Her lanes at Towne Bowl just closed, but Victoria Bowl isn’t far. We rolled in to roll, right at noon.
Now, it’s no secret I’ve been having problems with my right arm. You’ve seen it on Grab A Stack of Rock all wrapped up in braces and Tensor bandages. There’s some serious pain going on there and sometimes even working on a mouse all day can leave me in agony. So, this was a big test for me. Can I bowl for an hour? Is this a viable option for spending time in the winter?
The answer to both questions is yes (sorta), and yes. Sorta, because though I could bowl for an hour, I got noticeably worse after about 30 minutes and Jen proceeded to kick my entire ass.
Jen had the best score of her bowling career to date. I started strong, but pulled one of my worst scores on my last game.
We had a lot of fun. Because we were so early in the day, we had a whole side of the place to ourselves. We were at ease and because there was nobody else around, I filmed a bit of it. I’m always at my happiest when I can be creative, and I was able to bring that side of it into the game.
My elbow is paying for it now, and my right hand and wrist are a bit rough, but that’s how you build up strength and get past this stuff. Next time I’ll stretch first, though – that was a mistake. My thighs….
But we did it, and we had a great time doing it. Mission accomplished.
Kicking winter’s ass one pin at a time. Let it begin.
“There was one customer in Cambridge who hated selling to me, he always asked where “the regular guy” was. He asked my name and I told him it was Sanchez. When T-Rev came back, we had a laugh over the employee named “Sanchez” who was apparently low-balling this customer for his dance CDs.” –Record Store Tales #526: Location, Location, Location
The year 2000 wasn’t a particularly happy year at the Record Store for me. My good buddy T-Rev, who normally managed our Cambridge location, was also a talented guy with a hammer and saw. The boss sent him off to the GTA to build one of our new stores. This left his location unmanaged for several weeks that summer. Because I had a car, I was often the go-to guy to fill in for others. This meant pulling double duty, managing two stores at the same time. Sometimes I’d be working the morning in Kitchener, and the evening in Cambridge. I remember the boss promised to make it “worth my while” but never did.
Another manager had to do two stores at once, and thought I shouldn’t be complaining about my lot in life. My answer: “You do you!” I’ll complain if I like. It took them weeks/month to pay my mileage, so yes, I’ll complain.
Each location had its own quirks. Some stores had customers that were more into dance, others had customers that liked classic rock. Cambridge appealed to the lowest common denominator. We had just as many customers asking where the strip club was, as were looking for classical music. (An exaggeration, but a funny one.) Cambridge also had regulars who were used to dealing with T-Rev, aka “the regular guy”.
Here’s how it went one night in Cambridge.
Dude walks in with a box of crappy dance music. “Hey, is the regular guy in?”
“No, I’ll take a look at those for you,” I’d respond, although I really didn’t want to have a look at them.
“The regular guy usually gives me a good price,” came the answer.
“Well, we have a pricing scheme that helps us give you consistent pricing, so I’ll take care of that for you.”
“OK…” was the reluctant response.
I’d go through the CDs, which were often scratched and/or outdated, mixed in with a few things of higher value. I’d sort through. Put them in piles of things that were scratched vs. in good shape. Check to see if we had too many copies already. Check the scratched ones to see if they could be fixed. Price them accordingly. Call the guy back to the counter to show him what I found.
This particular guy wasn’t happy, of course, and was sure that the “regular guy” would have done better. (I would make sure I called “the regular guy” and tell him what I offered so this guy wouldn’t be doing any better when he returned.)
He passed on the offer. “When is the regular guy back?” he asked. I told him two weeks or whatever the answer was. He then asked my name, because of course he would complain.
“Sanchez,” I answered. It was my standard answer for when an asshole asked my name. I looked nothing like a Sanchez. I was as pale as a sheet of paper. I also had tried to bleach my hair, which came out kinda orange. Sure enough, this guy returned to the store and complained about “Sanchez, with the orange hair,” who low-balled him on his dance CDs.
I had already discussed this guy with T-Rev, and so when he came back, he didn’t really offer much differently than I had. But because he was the “regular guy” and not “Sanchez”, the guy took the money and we got the CDs. We had to do twice the amount of work to get them, since T-Rev had to repeat everything I did, but we were fairly consistent.
T-Rev called me. “Hey Mike! I just had a guy in here complaining about somebody named ‘Sanchez’ that lowballed him for his dance mixes? Said he had orange hair?” We had a good laugh about that.
I didn’t have to use the name Sanchez often, but I did use it!
RECORD STORE TALES #1093: What Are the Earliest Pieces of Music You Remember Loving?
We are all shaped by our earliest experiences, whether we admit it or not. What were the first songs and pieces of music that you remember loving? Let’s have a look at 10 of mine, from my pre-heavy metal years!
10. The Doctor Who theme.
I grew up with the third and fourth doctors: Jon Pertwee, and Tom Baker. In particular I remember the Baker years as the most important to my childhood. I asked my mom to knit me a long brown scarf like Baker’s Doctor wore. I also remember sitting in front of the TV and recording the intro music to Doctor Who, so I could rewind and play that tape whenever I wanted to. The music was all synth, and entirely spooky, cool and catchy.
9. John Williams’ scores.
Star Wars was first. Empire was second. Raiders was third. Those three soundtracks made up the majority of my musical listening for years. I didn’t own any other records. Just John Williams. When you consider the impact that Holst’s The Planets had on Williams, and heavy metal too, it is no wonder that heavy metal music would later speak so clearly to me.
8. Joey Scarbury – “Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)”
My earliest musical loves all came from TV or cinema. This was the first non-Williams record I owned, on a 7″ single. Mike Post co-wrote the song, and he would figure into the career of Van Halen much much later. “Believe It Or Not” was a pleasant pop song with an irresistible chorus. The B-side was a ballad called “Little Bit of Us”. I hated it. I remember playing the single at 78 RPM to see if it would make the song any better. It didn’t.
7. Magnum P.I. and The A-Team theme songs.
Here’s Mike Post again, with the theme music to Magnum P.I. starring Tom Selleck. Funky electric guitar hovered behind a bouncing string section playing the theme. It was like my John Williams soundtracks had collided with rock instrumentation. I would sit in bed and hum these themes, singing myself to sleep. And guess who was behind the A-Team’s music? Also Mike Post! Military drums and more symphonic theme greatness. I was well on my way, wasn’t I? These two themes were critically important to the whole action TV show genre.
6. Michael Jackson – “Beat It” and “Thriller”
Like every kid in the mid-80s, I loved Michael Jackson. It would not be an exaggeration to claim that every kid in my grade liked Michael Jackson to a certain degree. He had a number of hits on the radio, including “Say Say Say” with Paul McCartney, which I was frustrated to find was not on my Thriller cassette. Of course, I had no idea who Eddie Van Halen was yet, but he was in my head, playing the “Beat It” guitar solo without my knowledge. Michael’s songs were perfectly written and produced. His videos were groundbreaking, but I hadn’t seem them yet. I wasn’t even sure what he looked like at first. Tabloid photos always showed a gaunt Jackson hiding from the cameras. Once we saw his videos, I was shocked at how effeminate his speaking voice was, for a guy who sang so powerfully. Yet, I only played two or three songs on the tape.
5. Culture Club – “Karma Chameleon”
Hot on the heels of Jackson was Boy George. “Karma Chameleon” was impossible to forget, and I could care less about any of his other hits. I had the Colour By Numbers cassette and never played it except for one song. The album cover shocked me! I thought Culture Club was synonymous with Boy George – a one-man band. I had no idea there were other members, or what they looked like. I liked the tune, but this band was not for me. Eventually I would erase both Jackson and Boy George, and record other things on their tapes.
4. Styx – Kilroy Was Here
“Mr. Roboto” was the song that hooked me, but the album itself was pretty good: “Cold War”, “High Time”, “Don’t Let It End (Reprise)”, “Heavy Metal Poisoning” and “Double Life” were awesome rock songs! As before, I had no interest in the ballads. I played them once or twice, and just skipped them from then on. Styx were the first band with multiple singers that I liked: Dennis DeYoung, Tommy Shaw, and James Young. I wonder what influence this would later have on my love of KISS. Styx were bombastic and huge. The gatefold album came with lyrics, which I studied as if they were containing deep hidden meaning.
3. AC/DC – “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”
I recorded this song from my best friend Bob, along with “The Mighty Quinn” by Manfred Mann, and if memory serves, “Ooby Dooby” by Roy Orbison. I might be wrong on that last one, but AC/DC was the one I kept playing over and over, sometimes to irritate people. I remember distinctly telling people I liked the chorus because the singer sounded like “he had a frog in his throat”. My classmate Alan Runstedtler said “I like songs with the guy with the frog in his throat!” and so did I. It was pure comedy and novelty to me, but the guitars lay the groundwork for what would come later.
2. John Fogerty – “The Old Man Down the Road”
MuchMusic had arrived! I had no idea who Fogerty was, or that he was in a legendary rock band called Creedence Clearwater Revival. All I knew was that he had a really, really cool music video on TV, and I couldn’t stop watching it. The upbeat bluesy song with rattling slide guitar seemed cool to me. I decided that I liked John Forgerty based on that one song. I was slowly discovering rock music, and the last song on this list was the last one I loved before going full-metal in 1984.
1. Quiet Riot – “Cum On Feel the Noize”
I didn’t know what they looked like. I didn’t know anything about their prior history, the two Japanese albums, or Randy Rhoads. All I knew was I had finally found “my thing”. My sound. Bombastic, big, loud, catchy, well-written, and perfect.
Without Quiet Riot, I may never have taken my next tenative steps: Helix, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and W.A.S.P. All much heavier than Quiet Riot. Without Styx, I might never got gotten into Quiet Riot. Without John Williams, I might never had dug into Styx. Who knows?
I loved Quiet Riot well past their best-before date. I remember other kids at school making fun of me for calling Quiet Riot my favourite band. “They’re out!” laughed Ian Johnson. “Duran Duran are current!”
Fuck Duran Duran.
My journey into metal was natural and organic. I don’t know if those kids from school even listen to music anymore. Their loss.
Show #31, Aug 11 2023, featured another Nigel Tufnel Top Ten list! Harrison said to me, “I think we need to get Rob Daniels back on.” Rob said “OK! How about TV Show Themes?” With Harrison and Rob, we counted down our Top 11 Themes. List shows are proven to be popular, but this one was really cool. Jex Russell sent in his own list to read, and we had minimal crossover. You’ll be shocked to learn that Star Trek ranked high on my list. For “Ask Harrison”, we featured the debut of musician Jazz King asking the question!
This was a very busy period, and I had no choice to take some time off the show so I could do some other significant collaborations.
Show #32, Sept 1 2023, allowed me to bring on Rock Daydream Nation’s Peter Kerr for the first time. Also for the first time: two Australians in one show! The topic, chosen by Harrison, was What Bonus Tracks Should Have Been on the Album? A very popular list show, this one also had Jex Russell on board. Peter shared the link far and wide which helped with the views. I personally think it’s one of the best lists we’ve ever done. Lots of love for Black Sabbath here. We also unboxed the second edition of Tim Durling’s book, Unspooled! You can get yours on Amazon right now.
Show #33, Sept 8 2023, was another personal favourite. It took place on the cottage porch on a beautiful afternoon, with Jex Russell! The subject this time, in honour of Durling’s second edition, was music books! I hauled up to the lake a huge box of my music books, hardcover and softcover alike, signed and unsigned: Sean Kelly, Martin Popoff, Michael D. LeFevre, Robert Lawson, Dale Sherman, Neil Peart, Aaron Lebold, and so many more! Jex didn’t have any of his books on hand, so instead we ran an old video from his YouTube channel CineBrosSupreme featuring his collection.
Show #34, Sept 15 2023, featured a first-timer! All the way from Ramsgate UK came interviewer and soundtrack specialist Jason Drury! I’ve been trying to work with Jason on a live show for over three years, but the time zones made that difficult. Finally, he was back in Canada and we got him on board with his friends Rob Daniels and Erik Woods. For Erik, it was his first time on the new show as well! Harrison joined us for a fun discussion about Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and more. Jason provided his Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Star Wars movies (basically ranking them all in order) to go with the lists that the rest of us did in 2022. It was wonderful to finally get to chat with Jason in real time. Another very popular show.
At this point, my hair was getting unruly. I hadn’t cut it since March and it was time. Therefore, I planned a stunt. A repeat stunt albeit, but a stunt indeed: I shaved my head live on the show!
Show #35, Sept 22 2023, came as a surprise to Kevin the Mars Man who was not informed in advance of my shenanigans! All he knew was that we were doing another list show: Top Five Bald Artists! Harrison couldn’t attend this afternoon cottage show, but I honoured him by putting Blaze Bayley at the very top of my list. Kevin and Jex also brought awesome lists. Importantly, we spotlighted the courage it takes for an artist to go bald publicly, like Joe Lynn Turner did.
Show #36, Sept 29 2023, was a night off for me! I relaxed at the cottage while Jex and Harrison went “LeBrainless” again! Harrison wanted to get the show “back to basics”. Grabbing and showing off stacks of rock! I popped on at the very end to show off my Aerosmith Greatest Hits 6 CD set from Japan, which took a healthy critiquing. Jex and Harrison showed off some Twisted Sister, Paul Di’Anno, Alice Cooper, Concrete Blonde, Slade, Judas Priest and a batch of DVDs. A lot of interesting items in this stack of rock.
Show #37, October 6 2023, was largely in honour of Eddie Van Halen who we lost three years prior to the day. John Snow had his new Hagar Years box set on hand. Tim Durling and Rob Daniels also joined Harrison and I, with rare books, 7″ picture sleeves, rare soundtracks, and…José Feliciano!? You never know what you will see on Grab A Stack of Rock!
Show #38, Oct 13 2023, was a special one to commemorate Friday the 13th! Harrison, Rob and I were joined by Peter Kerr for our Top Five Songs about Monsters. We chose actual classic monsters, and some metaphorical monsters as well. Jex Russell had a written list, as did John Snow. Greed, addiction, werewolves, space aliens and more! We hope you like our choices. We tried to go outside the box and bring you songs you might not have thought of yourself, though Ozzy and Alice were expected and did appear!
Show #39, Oct 21 2023, was the third LeBrainless episode, at a special time. Jex had spent the day with Tim Durling at a Record Faire. Meanwhile, Harrison had recently attended a record show too. On a Saturday night, with Aaron “Mr. Books” on hand, the pair showed off some of their recent finds. There was some cool stuff here, on CD, cassette, DVD and vinyl. I came on at the very end to unbox the new Sven Gali Bombs and Battlescars, and a disc by Toronto’s Evil Elvis! A fun way to finish off the last cottage weekend of the season
…And that’s it for recapping, as we look towards the future. We have lots planned, and no intention to quit this time.
Our one-year anniversary happens to coincide with Show #40, October 27 2023. One year before (on the 28th, to be exact) I was feeling the itch to go live once again, and so I messaged Harrison that morning. “Are you free if we decide to go live tonight?” We didn’t have a name, a theme song, or a plan. Grab A Stack of Rock was born. Despite the highs and lows of 2022-2023, it was a bright spot of our week for the last year. I can’t wait to see what another year will bring.
We started out as a casual gathering, to show off our music collections. It’s currently more than that, with lists and special guests once again. In fact this week we’ll have a new one who has never been on the show before, John Clauser from My Music Corner! Tim Durling, Peter Kerr, Rob Daniels and Harrison will also be back.
Because it’s one year, we’re doing Top Songs About the Number One.
Thanks for Grabbing a Stack of Rock. Hope to see you celebrating with us!
Show #21, May 26 2023 was chock full of guests! I had more scores from Max the Axe’s Trillion Dollar Treats to show. John Snow, Tim Durling, Harrison Kopp, Jex Russell, and Dr. Kathryn (via video) all had new stuff, including brand new releases and rarities. This was a cottage show once again, and plenty fun one at that.
Show #22, June 2, 2023, was one we did for ourselves. My wife Jen has found Lego to be helpful in her healing, and so we have started to buy Lego again. With that in mind, Harrison, Rob and Dr. Kathryn came on board to show off Lego and toys. Jen returned as well, with her Spice Girls Lego set! Dr. Kathryn revealed the secret to identifying Lego blind minifigure packs, though this is now obsolete due to Lego transitioning to boxes. This show was tremendous fun despite the limited appeal.
Show #23, June 9, 2023 happened at the cottage! For that reason, my co-host Jex and I decided to do a special list show. After many comments and requests, the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten lists were back. With Rob Daniels sending in a list via email, Jex and I counted down the Top 11 Albums to Play at the Cottage! Jex debuted his new moustache for this episode, giving Harrison a run for his money. “We’re back, baby!” I announced. This popular show proved that lists were still a viable way to go forward, and they would be critical for the rest of the year.
Show #24, June 16 2023, almost never happened. Jen had a bad seizure and face-planted on the sidewalk. Her entire face was black and blue (and not like the rock band). “The show must go on,” she insisted, and so it did. A huge thank-you to Aaron and Harrison for carrying the show that night. Jex Russell did a brief cameo to show off some rarities, but otherwise the topic was one of our most popular historically: Iron Maiden! We looked at rarities, vinyl, bootleg CDs, beer and menus!
Jen needed some time to recover. Her face was a total mess. The community came together with support and eventually her beautiful face returned to its normal colour. No broken bones.
Show #25, June 23 2023, was another very special one with a brand new guest. I wanted to talk about my new favourite band, the Arkells! What’s an Arkell? Watch this show and find out. Live from the cottage, Aaron and I were joined by megafan Nurse Kat. She saw the band in four different countries 13 times in just 18 months, and has since added many more concerts to her resume. I provided a Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Arkells tracks list. With Kat’s concert footage and fan photos, this was a night to remember.
Show #26, June 24 2023, was the second show in one weekend! A morning show at that! Jex Russell joined me to look at a giant box of cassettes that I found in my parents’ basement. This turned out to be a popular one with the physical media crowd. Inside that box were a number of store-bought cassettes, and ones that I had recorded with home made cover art. It was a real trip of discovery, and only one cassette was destroyed in the process.
For laughs, we parodied a former cast member at the start of the show. All in good fun. Strippers are people too.
Show #27, June 30 2023, we celebrated Canada Day at the cottage with Jex, one day early. We chose our Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Canadian bands that are little-known outside of Canada. This turned out to be the most popular non-heels episode we’ve ever done. It is certainly an episode that I am very proud of. The Spoons, Varga, Teenage Head, National Velvet, the Beaches, Kick Axe, and more. This is a show you definitely want to catch up on if you missed it the first time. I even created a graph for it.
Show #28, July 14 2023, was a brand new thing for me and something I had been wanting to do a long time. For the first time ever, Harrison was host as I took the night off for the first “LeBrainless” episode! Harrison and Jex Russell tacked their Top Five Alice Cooper albums, a well-overdue list show. They did a great job without me, and it was a joy for me to just watch Grab A Stack of Rock for a change instead of hosting it.
Show #29, July 21 2023, was back at the cottage! We had Tim Durling, Grant Arthur, and Aaron KMA on hand to celebrate the birthdays of Harrison and Mike. I showed off my massive birthday hauls and recent arrivals. I also ran a fun slideshow of old birthday party photos from the 70s to the 90s. This was the first birthday show since 2021, since by this time in 2022 I had quit live streaming. A wonderful way to have a birthday party with friends far away. Tim Durling played guitar for us! We also unsealed the new Grab A Stack of Rock 7″ picture disc by Tee Bone Erickson, from vinylart.co. Tee Bone’s first ever music on vinyl!
I wanted to do something special for Show #30, which I called “The Dumbest Thing You Will See on YouTube.” Why?
Show #30, Aug 4 2023, featured me breaking the seal for the first time on my Metallica Master of Puppets box set, purchased four years earlier and still sealed. This was something I wanted to do on camera, because it’s not every day that some idiot unseals a box set that goes for up to $1600 online. We also looked at new arrivals in stickers, vinyl, and Alice Cooper deluxe CDs. Max the Axe attempted to drop in, but was thwarted by technical issues. We’ll try again one day. Perhaps the coolest thing about this episode was showing the brand new Paul Shortino cameo for Grab A Stack!
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